Stable Labor Market Keeps Fed on Track to Raise Rates Gradually

Behind the unexpected resurgence of Captain Q, which returned to the liquor market after an 11-year hiatus, was one man's four-year mission to reinvent the brand. His goal was to make the inexpensive rum-based spirit — once notorious for hangovers so severe that drinkers joked it took two days to recover — appealing to younger consumers without the baggage of its past. Priced at less than 10,000 won ($7.20), Captain Q has returned to public notice with a viral advertising campaign featuring comedian Lee Sun-min that paid homage to 1980s commercials. The limited-edition release of 12,000 sets sold out completely within a day of shipment. Even the Scottish supplier of the rum base was reportedly surprised, remarking, "Korea is such a dynamic market." Kim Dong-jun, a spirits manager on Lotte Chilsung Beverage's soju and spirits brand management team, had been preparing for Captain Q's revival since 2022. He can finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that four years of work had not gone to waste. At the company's headquarters in Songpa District in Seoul on Tuesday, Kim looked as flu

"Come in, try it out and leave us some feedback." At a pop-up store in Ikseon-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, on Oct. 30, prototypes showcasing the ideas of 19 young startup teams caught visitors' attention. Each team had set up an interactive space to present its products and services, ranging from Korean-style pork cutlets served with green onion kimchi and soybean paste stew to lightweight hiking and camping backpacks made with functional fabrics, artificial intelligence-powered fortune-telling services and art studios. Visitors tried out the offerings, listened to explanations from the entrepreneurs and suggested areas for improvement. About 850 people visited the event that day. The pop-up store served as a real-world testing ground for a Seoul Metropolitan Government initiative linking youth entrepreneurship with the revitalization of neighborhood commercial districts. A total of 150 teams applied for the fifth edition of the Local Entrepreneur Development Program, known as "Local in Seoul," this year, with 24 ultimately selected. Since June, the teams have been preparing to launch

A review committee of the state arms agency on Friday passed the basic plan for South Korea's nuclear-powered submarine program, officials said, moving forward with efforts to build the core naval asset under an agreement with the United States. The decision-making body under the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) approved the plan for the Jang Bogo N project during a regular meeting earlier in the day, DAPA said in a release. The project will formally be launched in 2027. Seoul unveiled the Jang Bogo N project in May, aiming to domestically develop and build nuclear-propelled, conventionally armed attack submarines, with the first vessel to be launched in the mid-2030s and fielded after the late 2030s. The project has been exempted from a preliminary feasibility study usually required for arms acquisitions, allowing the government to accelerate its push for the construction. Under procurement regulations, the defense minister or DAPA chief can request an exemption from the feasibility study for highly classified projects. The exemption for the Jang Bogo N program was grant

A court on Friday temporarily suspended a 201.1 billion-won ($147.74 million) fine imposed on e-commerce giant Coupang Corp. over unauthorized collection of user data, officials said. Coupang had earlier filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the penalty surcharges levied by the Personal Information Protection Commission for collecting the online activity records of about 11.17 million users and storing them in its database without consent. At the same time, Coupang also filed for an injunction against the fine. The Seoul Administrative Court granted Coupang's injunction request Friday and suspended the execution of the fine until 30 days after the first verdict in the main lawsuit seeking the cancellation of the surcharges is made, citing concern the penalty could cause irrecoverable damage to the company. Separately, the commission had fined Coupang 423.6 billion won over a data breach affecting more than 37 million users — the largest fine ever handed down by the privacy regulator to a single firm. Coupang filed an injunction request to suspend the fine, but a different panel of the court

President Lee Jae Myung nominated Defense Acquisition Program Administration chief Lee Yong-cheol as justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae said, Friday, after the post has remained vacant for more than two months. Lee, who heads Korea’s arms procurement agency, is a lawyer formerly affiliated with Lawyers for a Democratic Society, known as Minbyun, and has worked to protect human rights and promote democratic values, the presidential office said. He served as a presidential secretary for civil affairs and legal affairs during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, helping lead reforms of anti-corruption systems. Cheong Wa Dae cited Lee's legal background as well as his administrative experience in areas including structural reform as key qualifications for the justice minister post. “We expect him to swiftly establish the new criminal justice system and deliver fair justice administration so that no one is left behind or suffers injustice,” the office said. The president also nominated Seoul Regional Tax Office chief Ahn Duk-su as National Tax Service commissioner. The post has remained vacant s

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday pledged efforts to restore the honor of civilians killed in state violence around the 1950-53 Korean War, saying it is the state's duty to redress past wrongs. Lee made the pledge in his message to this year's joint memorial service for civilian victims of state violence before, during and after the Korean War, held at Seoul City Hall. The message was read by Lee's secretary for social cohesion Jeon Seong-hwan. In the early stage of the war in 1950, U.S. troops opened fire on approaching South Korean refugees at Nogeun-ri, a village in North Chungcheong Province, believing that North Korean soldiers were hiding among them. The incident reportedly left hundreds of innocent civilians dead. After the revelation about the incident, South Korea launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2005 to investigate similar cases, as well as other incidents of state violence. "It is a duty that today's state is obliged to fulfill: to shed light on the truth covered up by the state in the past and redress the wrongs of history," Lee said. He vowed to step up eff

Nearly 50 percent of Koreans said they do not trust the judiciary, a poll showed Friday, while less than 30 percent expressed trust in two new agencies launched after abolishing the prosecution's investigative right last month. A Gallup Korea poll, conducted on 1,001 adults from Tuesday to Thursday, showed that 47 percent of the respondents expressed distrust of the courts, up 3 percentage points from the previous survey conducted in April last year. Forty-one percent said they trusted the courts, down 5 percentage points. The survey also showed that public trust in the Constitutional Court had declined after the court upheld the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in April last year over his martial law bid. Compared with last year's survey, 49 percent said they trusted the Constitutional Court, down 12 percentage points, while distrust rose 5 percentage points to 36 percent. In the same poll, 29 percent said they trusted the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA), tasked with handling major crimes, compared with 49 percent who did not. Twenty-five percent expressed trust in

Kim Jong-chul, deputy commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA), was nominated Friday to serve as the agency's new commissioner general, filling a post that has remained vacant for nearly two years since former President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law. Kim said he felt a heavy sense of responsibility over his nomination as KNPA commissioner general at a critical time, ahead of a meeting of the National Police Commission convened to deliberate on his appointment. "I am well aware that public expectations for the police are higher than ever and that concerns about the police are also growing," Kim said, adding he would participate in the commission meeting with a sense of responsibility and the utmost sincerity. The selection process for the KNPA commissioner general involves several steps: nomination by the presidential office, approval by the National Police Commission, a formal recommendation by the interior minister, a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly and, finally, appointment by the president. The KNPA commissioner general nominee can be

Google Cloud told The Korea Times that it deleted the Korean first couple’s personal information, exposed for about five months on its VirusTotal platform, immediately after Korean authorities requested its cooperation. The response follows a finding that the malware analysis platform, owned by Google Cloud, had hosted sensitive personal information of 168 people aboard the presidential jet during President Lee Jae Myung’s trip to Europe in June. "Google Cloud removed the relevant data from VirusTotal immediately after confirming government authorities' request," the company said in a statement sent to The Korea Times on Friday. VirusTotal scans uploaded files and URLs simultaneously using more than 70 antivirus engines and security tools. Files submitted through its public interface are shared with participating security vendors and can be accessed by organizations that subscribe to VirusTotal’s enterprise datasets — meaning a document uploaded for a routine malware check can become available to outside parties. It was found through a media report on Monday that a file containin

President Lee Jae Myung's chief secretary for political affairs, Hong Ik-pyo, has offered to resign, according to sources Friday. The former three-term lawmaker, who took office in January, was expected to leave the presidential office after Sunday, the sources said. Cheong Wa Dae is widely expected to name Hong's successor around Sunday, with Choi In-ho, currently president of Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corp., reportedly being considered as a candidate.

Foreign children seeking legal recognition from Korean parents can now secure long-term stay rights and legal employment during court proceedings, eliminating a regulatory loophole that often forced vulnerable families into financial hardship or overstaying their visas. Under updated immigration guidelines revealed Friday by the Ministry of Justice, children without citizenship and their custodial parents involved in paternity suits will be eligible for a G-1 visa, a long-term humanitarian status granted in six-month increments for the duration of legal disputes. Crucially, the policy opens a pathway to temporary work permits for parents and guardians following review by an internal human rights committee, allowing them to support themselves legally while navigating the court system. "The measures are designed to fulfill the state's minimum humanitarian obligation by preventing hardship for children of Korean lineage and their guardians during trial proceedings," acting Justice Minister Lee Jin-soo said. Until now, foreign mothers or fathers entering Korea on short-term C-3 tourist visas

A key conference of representative judges from courts nationwide will take place later this month, officials said Friday, amid calls to uphold judicial independence in response to the ruling party's criticism of the judiciary. The conference had been initially set for Dec. 7 but will take place one week earlier than scheduled on Nov. 30 following a vote by its members. No agenda has been set, but it is expected to include discussions on the judiciary's independence. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been pushing for a parliamentary probe into Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, accusing him of interfering in politics. The DPK has accused Cho of meddling in last year's presidential election after the Supreme Court overturned a not-guilty verdict in President Lee Jae Myung's election law violation case and sent it back to a lower court for retrial just ahead of the June 3 presidential election. The party also took issue with Cho's refusal to recommend a new candidate for Supreme Court justice as requested by the presidential office, as well as allegations of improper use o